Talk:How To
Discuss the general idea, goals and mission of the site * The Idea * Oh my! I think this might make it easier to create robots that could replicate themselves --Inyuki 05:30, 28 Jan 2005 (PST) The Mission Currently the mission text is To become the ever-evolving friendliest community of cooperating explorers, inventors, engineers, scientists and other artists* to build the most comprehensive and ever-evolving step-by-step manual of How To Engineer the existing modern products in natural environment, and totally from scratch! Tell, what do you want it to be. The Goals This project reminds me of the Long Now movement. If nuclear weapons are ever used again, or some natural disaster wipes most of us out, the survivors will need the contents of a site like this (etched on platinum?) to rebuild civilization. Although, if most of us are wiped out in a nuclear war, perhaps the engineering instructions for how to build atomic weapons would be considered taboo? : I agree. I thought of this. However, by explaining how the Sun works, and how the elemnts are made, we would inevitably giving serious hints about how to make nuclear weapons. --193.219.38.188 15:01, 24 Feb 2005 (GMT) One other consideration - in ten thousand years, English might not even be in use anymore, nor any of the other languages in current use. Perhaps the steps on this site need to be presented pictographically, so that language-barriers will not prevent comprehension by anyone who discovers this content in the far future. : Well, it could be done in the future, but firstly it would need to create it in existing languages. --193.219.38.188 15:01, 24 Feb 2005 (GMT) Given all the secrecy which surrounds government efforts to archive this type of information, this site could become a trans-national movement to make it possible to "reboot" civilization on a global scale, should it ever become necessary. By the way, the acid test for this project is to explain how to make a pencil. Before we try to explain how to build a space shuttle, how about explaining how to make the very tool one needs to write down the instructions in the first place. Computers won't be available when civilization reboots. So we'll need a few pencils. I have no idea how pencils are made. I bet no one person possesses all of the knowledge necesary to make one. — DV 16:56, 22 Feb 2005 (GMT) Suggest ideas on making the Main Page page more attractive * Suggest ideas on other ways to collect such knowledge * Patent descriptions are public domain. I am not saying it would be easy, but one can take a lot of useful content from patent databases such as USPTO that spans more than two centuries (USPTO has online patents from 1790, which means you have information from industrial revolution and to present day). Of course, patents are not perfect descriptions for this project, but it's all in one place and it's better than nothing. 81.211.110.171 02:23, 6 Feb 2005 (PST) Dave Gingery has written a series of books titled Build Your Own Metal Working Shop from Scrap. Hope this is useful. Paranoid 11:25, 25 Feb 2005 (GMT) Suggest ideas on templates * Suggest new templates * Discuss old templates * STRUCTURE * TOOLS are the most important ones in most processess, therefore this encyclopedia should pay most attention to tools and their history. Actually, the history of tools reflect all the technological development, if you don't know how a peace of product is made, but only know it, write the name anyway. PROBABLY THERE SHOULD ALSO BE A MAIN LIST NOT ONLY OF THE "PRODUCTS", BECAUSE THIS DON'T DON'T MAKE US CONCENTRATE ON TOOLS, BUT THERE SHOULD BE THE MAIN LIST OF "CURRENT DAY TOOLS?" OR JUST "TOOLS", OR MAYBE THERE SHOULD BE MAIN LISTS OF "JUST TOOLS", "JUST PARTS" and "JUST PROCEDURES" --Inyuki 08:23, 29 Jan 2005 (PST) * "One exact PRODUCT may need a lot of time or people to complete. For exampole, we decided to create these steps for a specific computer model. If we disassembled it, we found thousands of parts. Every part may be manufactured by different companies. So, we will need somehow to identify these factories, visit them and get to know how that specific part is made, and then, disassemble the sector of the factory that manufactures the part, identify the manufactureres of all the parts of it and so on." ://Thousands of parts// This is why needs structurization. I think the best would be to mention only subparts. That's why is hyperlinking needed. Also, it should be done by reflecting the practical creation of some product, like, you wouldn't go to explain how to mill the flour if you explain how to bake a cake in a kitchen. But you may always hyperlink the exact kind of flour, so others will write how this kind of flour is made. ://visit them// Not always very practical way to get the knowledge. * People may be curious about how some sone is polished, and sometimes may be unable to actually identify the product, therefore I think the question list is needed for asking questions. Also, some rules for asking questions would also be needed. * PROCEDURES? THE PROCEDURE? Probably on one page there should be explained how one exact thing is made, it seems that "Procedures" might be not the best way to name the list. Perhaps "Tasks" would be better. There still could be hyperlinks for more explanation of more complex tasks. And the whole list would be called "the procedure". Where to start If necessity is the mother of invention, a logical place to start would be width basic human necessities. * Air. At some point (Space Shuttle Atlantis) it will be necessary to store/transport/clean/produce it, but for now nature provides. * Water. Same as above. Information on how to locate freshwater resources in different kinds of habitat would be useful. * Food. How to find and identify edible food sources would be important. So too would be to know how to prepare/cook it so as to minimize biochemical risk. How to cook brings us to our first necessary tool.. * Fire. Some basic uses for fire. Cooking, Fire can also be used as a tool to make.. * Spear width fire hardenet tip. Makes hunting more efficient. We are now at a point about 1 million years ago.